"Hey, Hey, wake up,” Ralem woke to being shoved by an excited dragon. “Lauri wants you to wake up. She says she’s going to show us around Baroke. And she says she’ll give me some cherry pie if you get out of bed now. So hurry, hurry!”
Ralem groaned and pulled the pillow over his head, “Later. I was having the greatest dream of not having a pushy dragon…” It wasn’t until he had said it that he realized how mean it sounded. “I was joking. I didn’t mean that,” he shoved the pillow away and jerked upright but Jaydon was already gone. “Ugh…” Ralem slumped in the bed. Then resignedly, he stuffed on his clothes and shoved his feet in his boots and walked out the door. The welcoming breeze greeted him with the promise of breakfast and the enthralling melodies of exotic birds. Does it ever rain here? He thought. Redfield. his hometown, had always been a warm climate, but rain seemed to always be falling. Here, the weather seemed perfect. He wiped his eyes and continued down to the Grand Dining Room, hoping to make amends with his sensitive dragon with his haste. He vaguely hoped his hair didn’t look too crazy and tried aimlessly to smooth it down. Finally he slid into the doorway and walked sleepily into the Grand Dining Room. Everyone was already almost done breakfast. Once Lauri spotted Ralem, she shoved a small pie in Jaydon’s direction. He latched onto it greedily and started digging in. Relieved that he had been forgiven, Ralem sat hard into the seat across from Lauri and offhandedly nabbed some eggs. “So- you wanted me?”
“Yes. I’m rather impressed at how fast you got up,” –Ralem patted his hair down- “Today I’m going to show you around Baroke and give you some background to this place. We haven’t had much time to talk about your background so we have much to discuss.” Ralem nodded and got to work eating.
He was nudged by Arianna, “Hey, you didn’t wish me good morning,” she teased.
“Sorry I’m still half asleep,” he replied, “Good morning, your majesty,” he teased back.
She blanched, “How did you find out?”
“Find out wha… WHAT?”
Daemon nearly choked on his wine, “You mean you don’t know?” He looked at Ralem, then to the other members of the table. “No wonder,” he muttered. Arianna glared at him intensely, but he avoided her gaze, “People of Baroke, Hail Princess Arianna Ritaldi-Yvanna Lillian Shiron of Grunde, the Glittering Isles of the North.” Forks clattered onto plates and jaws dropped. Several bowed their heads respectfully. Ralem was too shocked to do anything and Jaydon was too interested in his cherry pie to notice or care. “Wait… so you were a princess all this time and you wouldn’t tell me?”
“You don’t understand!” Arianna sputtered, her face red, “I couldn’t tell you! I was on the run! If you knew-“
-“Wait- on the run? The King and Queen don’t know you’re here?” Daemon said, his eyes nearly bugging out of his head.
“No! They don’t! I ran away, okay!” Arianna was on the brink of tears. She abruptly stood up and her chair slammed on the floor. “I need to go,” she turned and ran out of the room. Daemon watched her go and hesitantly started after her, calling her name.
“You should leave her alone for now,” Lauri said, her voice commanding yet gentle. Daemon stopped, but didn’t head back to his seat. His jaw set, he marched out of the room and sped the opposite direction that Arianna had fled. Fraylon slowly followed, his head lowered as if he was a dog that was afraid of getting sharply reprimanded by his master.
Ralem was stunned. His mind was still trying to process the fact that he had been with a princess this whole time. Suddenly everything made sense- the guards that had been following her in Vulnaire, her composure in public, the stories she had shared about the palace. Why hadn’t he discovered it earlier? At the same time, it seemed like a small hope he had had for her had been doused with water. He had no business even liking a Princess. She was out of his league by a billion. His breakfast now seemed like a hard lump in his stomach. He pushed his plate away.
Jaydon had caught some of his mood and looked up, cream and red cherry paste covering his face and making him look like a clown. A large dollop of white cream wiggled on his nose. “What just happened?”
“Nothing,” Ralem said bitterly. The Queen, and Lauri cast him sympathetic glances but he dodged them like arrows, fixedly staring at the floor, “Lauri, can we get it over with?” She nodded curtly and stood up. Ralem followed and Jaydon (after taking one last lick of the pie plate) got up and ambled after them.
As she opened the door to the courtyard, Lauri sighed and gazed out at the beautiful garden, glittering with vibrant flowers and vines. Trees sighed and swayed over several children playing hide and seek. “Beautiful isn’t it?” she asked. When Ralem didn’t reply she began, “This place was not always like this. It used to be barren as a dessert. The city was small and destitute. But then came the Rider and dragon that changed it all for us. Well, I wasn’t born yet, this was well before my time; but anyway a Vita Dragon and Rider took residence in this city. They had been forced to flee from the King of Vulnaire, who had taken a fancy to have a dragon head on his wall. We, however took them in and protected them. The dragon had not been very large or seemingly very powerful, but the second it landed here in peace the whole land changed. Plants flourished and even the weather changed, turning into almost paradise. We had been given the blessing of a Vita dragon, one of the rarest dragons of all time, except for of course the Rex dragon,” –she glanced at Jaydon- “In reality the blessing came in the form of a seed the dragon had given. The king was instructed to carefully plant it, and that as long as this country was friendly towards the dragon kind, and as long as they let the plant grow, that this country would be blessed.” She led them down a winding sidewalk and she stopped in front of a massive tree with gnarly long boughs that extended toward the sun. The leaves were a brilliant purple and heavy, pear-shaped fruit hung from the leafy branches. Jaydon reached out for one of the fruits, but Lauri gently pushed his arm away. “The fruits intensify a dragon’s powers. In your case, I do not think that would be a good idea. But Ralem, you can try if you wish.” Jaydon made a sour face as Ralem grabbed a fruit. It popped off the branch and rested heavily in his hand. The outside was firm and warm. The smell emanating off it was intoxicatingly delicious and enticing. He took a bite and instantly the flavors intensified in his mouth and his taste buds were set alight. Power surged through him as if he had been struck by lightning. He doubled over and the fruit dropped from his hand. The world spun and darkened like a leering face. The last thing he saw was Jaydon and Lauri’s concerned faces.
“Wha?” He opened his eyes and Lauri exhaled. “I guess it’s not a good thing for you either.”
“Are you kidding? That was amazing!” He reached for the fruit but Jaydon kicked it out of his reach. He tried to get mad but his brain was too fuzzy for that. He slowly staggered to his feet, “I feel like I can move a mountain!” He raised his arms and the air responded willingly to his call. The wind spiraled and whipped through the trees, blowing children over and making the fountain spray water all the surrounding area, making the rust colored pathway appear blood red. Drunk with power, Ralem lunged for the rest of the fruit. The air was was whooshed out of him as Jaydon tackled him and pinned him to the ground. His eyes blared a fierce green. The wind died as if someone had snuffed it out. Ralem struggled, but his dragon was too strong. Jaydon finally got off Ralem and shook himself off, “You could’ve killed yourself using all that power.”
Ralem shook his head, his brain suddenly cleared, “I don’t know what came over me. I’m sorry,” he mumbled.
Lauri nodded slowly, eyeing him like he was a strangely striped fish, “Interesting. There is much we need to learn about Rex dragon and Riders. I had no idea you would react this way to the Dracofructus. I’m sorry.” She extended a hand and Ralem took it, suddenly tired. He was surprised at how strong her grip was. “I’ve told you the basic things; this tree, the beginning of Baroque. Now I must move on to what our purpose is now. No, its not to eat pies or take money from the people, not that these are bad things. But we have a purpose here. To protect the country, people and their livestock, and this precious tree. Notice that it is not guarded. This is to remind the people of our link with the dragons. Although they are strictly forbidden to eat of the fruit, they can walk around it and admire it. But we ensure the wellbeing of the tree and harvest its fruits for the Riders and dragons to enjoy. I advise you only drink only diluted forms of the cider we make.”
-“Wait,” Ralem interrupted, “If this place has had dragons for so long, why haven’t I heard of it?”
She rolled her eyes as if it were the most obvious thing, sticking to telling a half-truth to the new Rider, “We try to keep this a secret. This country is more secretive than you think. Hardly any outsiders come in and when they do, Vali and Thistle don’t venture out. Even the people are dedicated to the wellbeing of the dragons. Anyway-“ she changed the subject and led them to under a vine-covered arch and into the city- “Our mission as Riders is to provide for the weak, protect our citizens, try to save as many endangered magical creatures as possible, and to defeat Kat, which is what you have so nicely accomplished. But listen,” she said, her serious face even more serious, her piercing gaze locking on Ralem’s, forcing him to stop in his tracks. Jaydon almost tripped over him and stumbled to a halt. Lauri’s eyes flicked to him, but focused mostly on Ralem’s. “Listen. I know this may all seem like fun and games, but it’s not. We take being Riders very seriously here. We keep our operations secret, we take our position seriously, we treat our dragons and our citizens with utmost respect, we are the first to the aid of our loyal citizens, and we NEVER take advantage of our position. Just because we are more powerful than most people doesn’t mean we are better or more important. In fact, it gives us graver responsibility. And believe me, if I hear of you or any other Rider abusing your status…” her unblinking hard stare was enough to make Ralem feel a little uneasy and Jaydon reflexively stepped slightly in front of him. She broke contact, but it was clear that it was not because of Jaydon’s hair sticking up. Lauri just glanced at him meaningfully then turned around and started walking toward the iron wrought gates like nothing had happened. The two hesitantly followed. After a minute she began again, “So enough with all the pleasant responsibilities. I need to know more about you. Where did you find Jaydon? How did he hatch?”
Ralem thought (a little amusedly) that this was questions about Jaydon more than him. But he was happy to make a story to break the ice, “Well that's an interesting story. It starts out not too long ago on one of the foggiest days of the year. My troop and I were..” Ralem spun his tale in an exciting way that drew Lauri in. Vali padded out to meet them and also was captivated by his story. Even Jaydon hung on his every word, adding his own variants to the story when needed to display the awesome things he had done. Ralem had always loved telling a good story and they found themselves wandering aimlessly through the town, not really noticing where they were headed.
When he was done, Lauri was silent for a while. It was evident that she and Vali were having a private conversation as she drifted off and occasionally nodded her head. Finally her head jerked upright and she smiled, “I know now! You are the dragon egg we had been trying to smuggle out of Vulnaire!”
Jaydon and Ralem walked in shocked silence and Lauri continued, “Well we had spies sent into Vulnaire, who gathered information about the Queen,” when Lauri said Queen, a shadow crossed her face, “You have no idea how many dragons we have saved. In fact, we have a spy that is very close to the Queen herself. He managed to smuggle the egg into the carriage as the Ambassador was leaving for Baroke. When we found that it had been torn apart by a Julnor we expected the worst. This is… splendid!” Ralem was taken aback by her uncharacteristic excitement.
The rest of the day was spent walking around Baroke. Lauri could talk on and on about the history of every one of the buildings it seemed. Ralem wondered just how old this Rider was as she informed him of all these monumental people in the cities’ past. As she described some parts of the cities past Ralem could swear that he saw tears glisten in her green-blue eyes.
It was a truly beautiful place. Even the buildings seemed welcoming, bright and cheery in the sun’s soft light with thatched roofs and the windows thrust open to jovial flowers that seemed to nod in the wind. The people were friendly and greeted them warmly and reverently. Ralem was used to being in the background, just a regular soldier that was nobody special. It was a change, but he found he didn’t mind especially much.
Jaydon tried to listen carefully, but being a restless dragon he seemed to deviate from Lauri’s side to the nearest shop. But one time they discovered Jaydon wasn’t following and looked back to find his face plastered to a bakery’s window. Taking the hint, Lauri let them go. But before they could leave Lauri called to him, “I’d talk to Arianna if I were you. I need to test a certain frost dragon’s skills.”
“Oh, yeah,” Ralem mumbled. He’d almost forgotten about that. He really didn’t want to talk to her because he was still mad at her for lying to him for all this time. Jaydon was occupied at the bakery, wary of Ralem’s dark mood
But sure enough, after he had visited Drake at the Tavern (which was a rather long visit. Drake wanted to tell him all about the lady bats in the colony he had found by the castle), he found himself walking back to the castle. He knew he had to talk to Arianna, if anything to get some answers. He asked a maid where here room was. One left, one right, third room down, he thought as he tried to navigate the maze-like hallways. He did one last turn and found her door. It was ornate with flowers. A bronze ringer in the shape of a snarling tiger was hung above the door. It seemed strangely out of place as it hung there, a cylinder clutched in its jaws surrounded by curling flowers. He grabbed the cool bronze to ring it, but before he could he heard voices. “NOO!” Ralem froze the knocker halfway to the bronze.
“Arianna- be reasonable,” – it was Daemon- “You are the Princess. It is your responsibility. You must come back to Grunde. Your Father-“
“My father is dead!” Arianna screamed. Ralem heard sobbing. He bit his lip and slowly lowered the knocker until it lightly tapped the bronze. He stepped back and slowly started creeping away. But he could not help hearing, “-You’re father? H...how could you not tell me this, Arianna?” he sounded shocked and hurt. Arianna retaliated with a “Just leave me alone! GO AWAY!” Ralem walked faster. The handle creaked as it turned and the door eased open. Daemon stepped out looking flustered and miserable. Even his blonde hair seemed uncharacteristically ruffled. Ralem tried to shrink into the shadows and disappear around the corner. Daemon just took a deep breath and followed him, bumping into him at the corner. His eyes flicked to Ralem, then he hastily looked away and marched off in into the hallway without a second look, his shoulder unusually slumped.
Relieved that Daemon was not upset at him, Ralem debated what he should do next. Some instinct urged him to go in there and comfort her, but another also cautioned him. She needed to be alone, as Daemon had recently learned. He didn’t want to think about it at the moment. He needed some time to think himself. It felt like everyone had been cramming information into his head that day; Lauri with her history lesson, Arianna with her shocking news. He needed a place to think. So as he was trotting to the spacious gardens he called out Jaydon? Are you up for a ride?
BOOM.
Ralem was almost bowled over as wind blew the bushes almost to the ground and sent birds spinning in the air. Then there was Jaydon, looking as smug as a cat who had just caught a mouse. Thought you’d never ask, he bent down for Ralem to get on. Ralem cringed at the perfectly manicured lawn that Jaydon had trampled, but mounted his dragon and relaxed on his withers. Jaydon sped up into the air happily. The scales under Ralem vibrated as Jaydon hummed. I love flying with you, he said. With a flick of his tail, Baroke was left far in the distance. Ralem relaxed, his back to Jaydon’s massive neck. Power thrummed through their connection as Jaydon tried to take Ralem’s mind off of the previous events. The world spun underwing in a blur of green. The clouds stretched puffy fingers across the azure sky as if trying to cover the blue. The sun regarded them distantly, halfway hidden by a stubborn cloud. And they flew on...
Finally Ralem just had to talk, Jaydon. Arianna….
I know, Jaydon thrummed sadly, dipping low over the trees.
But Ralem was persistent, I don’t understand. Why wouldn’t she tell me? After all the things we’ve gone through- didn’t she trust me?
Of course she trusted you!
How do you know? Ralem said angrily, then relaxed because he knew his dragon was not to blame. I… just don’t know how to take this, he sighed, How am I supposed to act toward her now? She’s royalty- I’m but a common soldier-“
You are not a common soldier, Jaydon growled, You are a Rider. Not only that, but the Rider of the Magnus Ventus Rex! The greatest dragon in the world! With that he let loose a scarlet pillar of flame and an earthshaking roar that almost made Ralem jump out of his skin. You are my Rider, Jaydon added more gently, And you deserve more respect than you give yourself.
Ralem didn’t know what to say to this. She’s pretty upset right now.
Yes, Jaydon replied, I think it would be a good idea to talk to her later. She still grieves for the loss of her father.
I wonder how he died? Ralem thought offhandedly, probably in a war.
Perhaps, Jaydon mused, then randomly asked, Do you think the hunt will still be on?
Ralem laughed, Probably not. And even if it was I don’t think you would be invited. You would scare deer away for miles around.
Jaydon pouted and grumbled. I’ll just go hunting on my own. We’ll see who ‘scares away the deer’ and who actually catches them.
You do that, Ralem told him.
They flew a little longer over the alien landscape, each lost in their own thoughts. After a long silence Jaydon piped up, Want to go back to the beach? Ralem thought about it. He didn’t especially want to get wet again. Puh-leeease? Jaydon asked.
Ralem craned to look over Jaydon’s neck. The beach lay gleaming like a great tan scarf awash with crystal blue waters. “I suppose I don’t have much choice,” he muttered.
“Come on, it will be fun,” Jaydon said as he touched down on the sand.
And it was fun. The dragon would employ his Rider in many strange games that half the time he had made up himself. And when Ralem interjected that he really didn’t want to play make-a-big-hole, Jaydon would simply give him a pouty-dragon face with his huge green eyes to remind Ralem that he was just a poor baby dragon that wanted to play a game with his Rider. So Ralem reluctantly followed along, pretending to dig while Jaydon did most of the work. Soon there was a crater in the middle of the beach and Jaydon was starting to get a little tired. He let his head fall to the sand near where Ralem was sitting. Then his head snapped back up again, “I know! We can have a sandcastle contest!”
“That’s not fair,” Ralem countered, “I couldn’t compete with the HUGE sand castle you could make.”
“Okay then,” Jaydon sighed, “I’ll do it human form and STILL beat you!”
“You’re on!” Ralem said, getting to his feet, “I used to be the best sand castle maker as a kid,” he furrowed his eyebrows, Tthe last time I made one was twelve years ago though,” he muttered. But Jaydon wasn’t listening. He bounded out of the hole in a hurricane of sand, blowing Ralem to the ground. Swiftly turning into a human, he ran behind a scraggly bush. “Can’t have you cheat and see my sand castle before I’m finished!” he called.
Ralem chuckled; glad nobody was there to see him making a sand castle like he was eight years old again. You would think being a Rider would make you more manly. But Ralem found it quite the opposite. Having a baby dragon was like becoming a kid again yourself. Bending to his knees, he dug his hands through the coarse sand and begun his masterpiece. The gently lull and crash of the moody ocean accompanied him as he methodically began the base for his castle. It was no small feat, having to regularly get water to wet the sand a bit, building the bulging mass into the squarish dimension imaginary castles seemed to have. Twice he found sad little fish bones hidden in the foundation. He threw them out before beginning on his sloping parapets, pointy turrets, and inclined roof.
After adding his own designs, he stepped back to admire his work. It’s missing something, he thought. Then an idea popped into his head. Aha! He grabbed a stray leaf and stabbed it into the top. Several thin leaves served as banners. Just as he finished sticking the last banner on, he heard a chuckle behind his back. He twisted around to find Jaydon laughing at his sandcastle. Suddenly indignant, Ralem scrambled to his feet, “What? Is yours any better?” Jaydon nodded and gestured for Ralem to follow him. He followed, skeptical that Jaydon could produce much better. Then Jaydon moved aside and smiled like he’d obviously won.
Ralem had to put his hand over his mouth to hide his laughter and pull a straight face. Jaydon’s “sandcastle” was a big glop of wet sand, covered in shiny sea shells that were mostly broken and ranged from sunset orange to eggplant purple. Four sticks protruded from it in twisting angles and a dull smooth rock was centered in the middle. Jaydon frowned and picked up the rock, dunking it into a puddle. He stuck it back on the pile of sand, now a tannish red, and smiled, “There.”
Ralem didn’t know what to say. He decided to go for, “That’s… that’s great Jaydon.”
“I know” Jaydon beamed, adjusting a sea shell.
Barely keeping back his laughter, Ralem held his hands up, “You won. Hands down.”
After a while longer of frolicking in the waves, Jaydon decided he wanted to take to the skies. Ralem was getting a little tired, and was relieved when Jaydon extended an armored forearm for him to mount. Jaydon had been more animated than usual, trying to keep Ralem busy so that he could forget the trouble with Arianna. It did more than that; it was fairly exhausting, but Ralem appreciated his effort. They zoomed together over the serene scene, the background becoming a blur and clouds drifting across his vision. Never did he feel so relaxed, content, and powerful than when he was seated on his dragon. Nothing could harm him; he was high over the earth, gliding soundlessly like a green comet. He noticed his thoughts were reflections of Jaydon’s own; joyous in his territory.
Baroke approached, with the thatched roofs and winding streets full of people and animals. Traffic stopped to watch the flying giant approach, people leaned out of rickety carriages or craned their necks in jolting carts laden with goods. But Jaydon’s eyes slid past them all as flashing lights beckoned his sensitive eyes. His gaze caught the fluttering, flashing object that was careening in the sky like a drunken hummingbird. In an instant Jaydon recognized it as Sprite, desperately trying to keep aloft with something heavy on her back. Her mouth was foaming as her dazzling wings sputtered at twice the speed they should have. The heavy object was a tearstained Arianna, her hair windswept and glassy blue eyes determined as she hung on the pony Pegasus’s mane for dear life. The poor thing was losing altitude, though, and were soon going to meet the business end of a wide-eyed burly plow horse if something didn’t catch her. Ralem leaned over and his eyebrow flew into his hair in surprise at the spectacle. Jaydon-
Got it, Jaydon replied, angling his descent to slide effortlessly next to the struggling duo. “Hello Arianna,” he said casually as his head glided next to hers. She started with a scream and almost fell off her mount. Recovering herself, she grabbed a chunk of mane and furrowed her eyebrows, opening her mouth to say something. But Jaydon interrupted her, “Want a ride?”
“I’m… I’m fine,” she gulped, her voice trying to convey steel but didn’t really work out. She sounded scared to death.
Ralem rolled his eyes at her stubbornness. But Jaydon persisted, going dangerously low to the buildings to trail her, “Are you sure? I’m a smooth mount.”
“Can’t you see I’m busy.” Arianna growled between clenched teeth.
Jaydon’s claw trailed the top of a building, “We could go wherever you want. Hey, I know where a waterfall is!”
They dropped below the buildings and suddenly Sprite failed to find a lift. With a desperate whinny she dropped like a rock. “Ok, okay, I want to go!” she screamed as the cobblestones approached at a reckless speed.
Right before she would become road kill, Jaydon reached down and grabbed her like a butterfly in a net, fake-grunting in exertion as he lifted her and the winded Pegasus away from the road. Jaydon set the Pegasus down on a rooftop and gently placed Arianna on his back with his teeth, careful as a lioness carrying her cubs. When Arianna landed on his scaly spine, she jerked away from Ralem and bunched her legs up underneath her, shaking her head to hide her face with ripples of dark hair. Her eyes were framed by a blotchy red as if she had been crying. The warning, LEAVE ME ALONE, radiated off her body language. Ralem uncomfortably scooted aside, giving her a wide berth. The ground receded below them without a care as Jaydon zoomed once again, away from the boisterous country. Rising above the clouds, they felt a brief sensation of a cool shower of rain droplets. Arianna appeared shocked and wide-eyed, her pale skin sprinkled with crystalline drops, her hair similar to a dark spider web. Droplets danced in her eyelashes. Ralem took one look at her ridiculous face and busted out laughed. At first she tried to glare at him, but he must have looked just as crazy because her high, shaking laugh erupted from her as she looked at him. And finally, they all were jolted as Jaydon laughed- or huffed as he climbed ever higher. After they had stopped being jostled by the dragon’s tremendous ribcage Arianna wiped the hair off her face and looking down, asked, “So you’re not mad at me?”
Ralem felt like saying. “Yes”, but Jaydon (who Ralem thought adored her way to much) subtly edged him not to. It feels like Jaydon’s controlling my life, Ralem thought.
Heard that.
“No, Your Majesty,” Ralem replied grumpily.
“Don’t call me that,” Arianna choked vehemently. Then his air was squeezed out of him as Arianna lunged at him and hugged him tight. “Thank you, I’m so sorry,” she gushed. Ralem awkwardly patted her back.
After she detached herself from him she said, “I’m sorry for not telling you before…. I just…” she tried a shaky smile, but her eyes were glassy and shimmering and suddenly tears were falling and Ralem found himself wrapping an arm around her. She welcomed this easily and wept on his shoulder, creating blotchy spots on his shirt as tears fell. He didn’t care though.
Jaydon inhaled, probably to attempt to cheer her up. Ralem could feel the dragon was getting agitated. He thought that Arianna was the best thing since blueberry pies and that was saying something. He wanted her to be happy. Before he could say anything mortifying though, Ralem violently said, SHUT UP. Jaydon did and just glided awkwardly over the waterfall that roared and shimmered unnoticed. For a while, he hovered around the area, hoping for someone to notice.
Slowly the hiccupping sobs subsided and she leaned away from him. Brushing her wet hair away from her face she looked at Ralem with shining eyes, “Do you… do you think Daemon’s m..mad at me?” Ralem’s jaw tightened at the mention of the other Rider. He took his arm back from around her shoulder, “I don’t think so.”
“G…good,” she sniffled. She cleared her throat before continuing, “I guess you deserve to know the truth. After all we’ve been through together, I need to tell you.” And so she began her tale, halting at first, but gaining intensity as she got deeper into it. She was the princess of Grunde, but she hadn’t liked it. Her mother was very strict and proper, forcing her to wear awful clothes and “Act like a princess”. She rolled her eyes. But then she told of her father and her eyes staring far past the forest into a cherished memory. She tenderly recalled how they’d sneak off together to go on hunts, ride horses, and do other things that princesses weren’t permitted to do. “One time,” she laughed, although tears still remained in her blue eyes, “We were on a hunt. And we heard this noise. So we followed it, readying our bows. And when our horses jumped over a bush we saw a tiny baby bear-“ she took a shuddering breath, “It’s mother was dead and it was mewling beside her, the most pitiful little thing I’ve ever seen. But father-“ her face lightened in a proud smile, “He took that bear as his own. Raised him up from a cub. We named him Oso. He never did leave father’s side- They went hunting together, he even would lay down on father’s feet like a great bear rug!” She laughed, “Before long my people hailed my father as King Benjamin Bear, for his name was Benjamin.
"And still I did my duties as a princess: learned useless things like Latin and history, while dad secretly taught me falconry and I’m proud to say I competed in foreign horse shows. But then, it would be eight months ago now, he went off on a hunt with my uncle and a couple friends. I begged him to let me go with him, but my mother forbade me to.” She sniffed and her next words were choked, “If only I’d gone… It was the Julnor. No one survived. I went searching for them that night. My father,” her chin trembled, “Died in my arms. He was just looking at me with his blue eyes, like he was trying to tell me something. Then he just….. was gone.
Her eyes regained the fiery blue glint, “I saw the tracks made by the beast and promised revenge. I was so angry. I came back to the castle in hysterics. Mother sent me to my bed to ‘recover’ for two weeks as the country mourned. She told me to forget about the Julnor. That I should just let the hunters get it. But it wasn’t enough,” she looked down fiercely, “I was the best tracker in the land besides my father, and everyone knew that. So I escaped. I didn’t even look back. And I hunted that beast for three months, sometimes just barely surviving off the occasional deer. I didn’t realize how hard it would be, surviving on my own. I went feral out there, evading thieves and wild animals. There was more than a few close calls,” she bit her lip, “And then you two came in and killed it. I won’t say I wasn’t mad at you. But I couldn’t say no when you offered revenge on the person who was controlling that vile creature. So I joined your team. I also hadn’t seen people in months and was dying to talk to and be with something other than trees,” she laughed, “I knew you two were different from the start. But I just thought you two were wizards. I’ve seen a couple and they are strange fellows. And you know the rest.” She finished bluntly.
“How do you know Daemon?” He didn’t realize how frank and insensitive it was until he said it. Insert foot in mouth, he thought, biting his lip. What annoyed him worse was that his dragon was mentally raising an eyebrow, Really?
Arianna laughed again. Her laughs sounded different when she had been crying, not so loud and breathy, more subdued and punctuated with the occasional hiccup. She brushed a hair from her face. Gosh, she looks beautiful even after she cries, he thought. She had red circles around her eyes and her hair was windswept and wild, but she was still stunning with her deep blue eyes and feminine, almost elfish face framed by her dark, wavy hair. The dewy droplets from the clouds and tears lined her eyelashes. Her forehead was slightly creased in a cute way and her penciled eyebrows seemed to punctuate every word. Catching his intense gaze, she looked away, color blushing on her cheeks. “Daemon is an old friend of mine. He was my playmate from when I was a child. But as we grew older, he was still a great friend but he was trifle annoying. He’d always side with my mother on everything, trying to keep me out of trouble. But he saved me from Mother’s rage more than once. He always tried to stay regal but I broke him in and soon we were racing off on our steeds, Somnel and Holli, hunting all sorts of creatures.
"Then one night while we were hunting, we got in trouble. Ok, we got in big trouble. I’m not going to tell you the whole thing but somehow we ended up accidentally killing a herd of the King’s cows.” She saw the look on Ralem’s face, “It was dark, ok? And I promise, they looked like dunrets with their rectangular bodies, shaggy hair, and long curling horns. Since I am the princess, I didn’t get punished. But he got the worst of it. We got in a big fight and it ended when I screamed at him to get out of my life. And he did. He wouldn’t approach me for weeks afterwards.
She sighed shakily "Once I escaped the castle and hid out in his house, wanting to surprise him and apologize. Then we could get back to life as before, hunting and having fun. But when he found me he was so mad. His eyes were wild and he was acting strange. He dragged me, kicking and screaming back to the castle. I realized from his odiferous breath that he had started drinking. After that incident I was locked into my room and mother kept a close eye on me. I felt so alone, and so angry at Daemon for turning me in.
She paused here, looking at Ralem to see if he thought she was rambling. When she caught his rapt expression, she haltingly continued, "Then, one day I was busy at a ‘Royal Meeting’ about something boring like rations for our army or something when we got the news. He was missing, gone, not a trace left. Somnel came back without a rider. His sword was still in its scabbard by the saddle. We all feared that a wild animal had killed him. It could’ve been anything; hippogriffs, polucks, zeffnas, or frost dragons being the greatest. Grunde is a dangerous place to hunt. That’s why we liked it. But Daemon’s disappearance really struck home. Not that I stopped hunting, of course. But my heart broke and we grieved for him for months. My father wouldn’t stop looking for him. He’d go himself, searching even to the Altus Mountains. He had always loved Daemon as a son. I think I saw something break in him that day... We never were the same after that. And that was four years ago…” she fell silent, feeling like she had been talking too much.
Ralem mulled this onslaught of information over, “He must’ve found Fraylon’s egg in the forest.” –and the horse would have been scared of Fraylon’s scent-Jaydon interjected, “So he raised the baby dragon secretly in the forest.”
Arianna looked incredulous, “He couldn’t have! That year was the year of the blizzards. The temperatures dropped lower than they had in years! And that’s saying something for Grunde.”
Ralem’s mind was going a hundred miles per hour. Somehow it was easier to think astride a dragon. “His dragon is a frost dragon. When I was fighting him”- or getting beaten by him- Ralem ignored his dragon and continued, “he grabbed my arm and his hand got really cold…”
“Of course!” Arianna said, “Frost dragons can lower their body temperature to freezing temperatures. I learned this in science; their body temperature can get so low that their blood would freeze if they didn’t have this special strangely named substance in it. They do that because of their only predator in Grunde; the zeffnas. Have you ever seen one?” Ralem shook his head. She shivered, “Well they are horrible beasts, huge with short tusks and covered in white hair. They have terrible sight, but can sense heat with just a flick of their nasty purple tongue. Frost dragons are their favorite meal, but the dragons are elusive, living in the high mountains, their body temperature camouflaging them.”
“Wow, you know a lot about frost dragons,” Ralem said.
“Well I had to take a course on all the beasts that roamed Grunde. My mother even agreed because ‘It would help me to station troops in safe areas and would teach me the danger of hunting, blah blah.’ But I really did like learning about them. I thought they were the most refined, elegant creatures in the North and sought to catch a glimpse of one. I don’t know much about any other kind of dragon, though,” she added, a light pink blooming on her cheeks.
I’m refined and elegant, Jaydon complained, wanting some attention.
No you’re not. You’re very masculine looking, I assure you, Ralem replied quickly.
Oh, Jaydon said, trying to figure out if this was a good or bad thing,
“What did he say?” Arianna asked, interjecting his thoughts, “You just zoned out.”
“Oh, he’s just asking for attention,” Ralem replied with a quirky smile, “He wants me to get him a nice leather saddle and reigns to go with it.”
“DO NOT!” Jaydon bellowed out loud.
Arianna and Ralem laughed at his response, and only then did they realize the sunset was flying a streaming banner of brilliant colors across the dimming sky. It took their breath away with the sheer grandness of it all. In that moment, it seemed like they were suspended in time and space. With a jolt Ralem realized it was just him and Arianna (and of course Jaydon- but he didn’t count). He looked at her hand, desperately wanting to take it into his own. But Arianna was too enthralled by the sunset to notice his interest. He didn’t want to make a move, afraid that it might scare her off and he was not so sure of himself either.
Finally, Jaydon reluctantly swerved to go back to the castle. Arianna sighed, then turned to Ralem with a raised eyebrow, “You ready for your first hunt?”
“I’m more than ready,” Ralem replied with a challenging grin.
She slapped him lightly on the shoulder, “You’re on,” she laughed.
“I’ll get more than you two combined,” Jaydon boasted.
Arianna and Ralem looked at each other. “No, it’s no contest,” Arianna said hurriedly.
Ralem leaned close to Arianna, “We wouldn’t want him killing all a poor farmer’s cows, do we?”
“Heard that!” Jaydon yelled. Ralem made a face as Arianna burst into a fit of laughter.
The hunt wasn’t near as fun as Ralem thought it would be. It was a lot of noise and jumping over logs and confusion. He didn’t mind the noise so much, but he wasn’t the greatest rider; he was used to the smooth, easy glide of a dragon. So he bounced like a bunny every time his horse (which he could have sworn was determined to kill him) jumped over a fallen tree. The horse would also take him close to the low-hanging trees, trying to shake him off like a unwanted parasite. STOP IT, Ralem said in his mind, then felt stupid because he knew he couldn’t talk to horses. Abruptly he looked up and found he was getting left behind, so he kicked the horse’s side. It responded with a maniacal burst of speed. Then, while he was holding on to the horn, reigns forgotten in his terror, the horse threw him into the mud right before Arianna and the rest of the troop. Of course, being Arianna she had to start laughing, and the crowd just had to join in. “You…need… a hand?” Arianna choked out, sliding her pony next to him and extending her own.
Ralem tried to regain his manliness and brushed it off, wiping his muddy hands on his pants and jumping to his feet, “I’m ok...That horse hates me, Arianna,” he added in a whisper.
She couldn’t help but give a twitch of a smile at the statement. “You want to have mine? We can trade. My horse is named Rosie. Nice and gentle,” she patted the jennet’s neck as it tried to crop some grass.
Ralem was suddenly wishing he hadn’t gone at all. He couldn’t accept Arianna’s proposal because only women should ride the small jennets. He needed to have a manlier steed.
He heard deep chuckling in his head, Missing me?
Shut up.
With a great sigh, Ralem politely declined her offer and headed back to his horse, which thankfully had his reigns caught in a tree branch. Oh, how he wished he had Firetail again; the horse had such a smooth gait that even Ralem could ride without fear. But nooo… he had to be stuck here with a demon horse who was at the moment trying to take a chunk out of his hair.
The rest of the hunt was largely uneventful. They saw no prey, and Ralem suspected that it was because of the large, boisterous crowd that had joined them. Arianna was having fun though, smiling cheekily as she tackled larger logs with her little jennet than the sturdy war horses could even think about. More than once a man was thrown because its mount wasn’t so sure about a jump.
Basically it was just a big rumpus with horses in the forest. And even though Ralem really liked and admired horses, he was an awful rider and it showed. Towards the end, he consented to attempt to lead the horse miserably around, trying to dodge its flashing teeth. Then, to make matters worse the sky opened up and a cloudburst seemed to explode over their heads. Arianna didn’t mind, she was having too much fun with her comrades, showing off some of the special moves she could do.
A thunderbolt boomed and flashed overhead, renting the sky with a streak of gold. With a unearthly scream, the horse reared up and struck Ralem in the head with a flailing hoof. As he crumpled to the ground as if dead, the horse wheeled about and was lost in the dim sheets of rain, its shiny black tail whipping in the wind. Another streak of lightning saw Ralem writhing in the mud in a sudden onslaught of excruciating agony. The dark red of blood stained the lighter, earthen hues of mud, as it gushed from his skull. Clutching his pounding head, he tasted the iron as stars danced across his spotting vision. Some of the other riders circled around him, laughing at the klutz, not noticing or caring that he could be dying. Luckily for them, the pain had thrummed out their catcalls and jeers at the “Rider who couldn’t ride.” Ralem was so mad, angry and hurt that he felt like a wild animal, growling like a wolf as the healing got to work. In less than a minute it was over, but it had seemed like hours of endless torture to him. When the pain dwindled and drained, Ralem staggered his feet, spitting out blood as he glared at the laughing horsemen.
Jaydon …
His concerned dragon got the message implied. In less than a second a WHOOSH blasted in everyone’s ears and most of the horses bucked off their burdens. Ralem, his eyebrows knitted in his muddy face, climbed to the top of his dragon. He surveyed the wreckage, twenty people mostly flat on their butts, soaking and buggy eyed in the mud. And he smirked.
In a whisper of the wind they were gone.